Confirmation Ultrasound

We have a baby! One baby with a beautiful heartbeat! We are beyond excited...and we have pictures but I have not scanned them into the computer yet. Need to get on that!

So the story of how our day went....

We were lucky that our appointment was at 11:30...this meant that we did not have to leave at the crack ass of dawn. Instead we slept in a bit and got up at 7:30! We got showered up and dressed and we were on the road by 8:45. The ride seemed forever! Not much conversation between the two of us...you could tell we were both nervous. I felt on the verge of tears the entire time...silently talking to our little embryo and praying that everything would look okay.

When we got to Womack, we checked in and took a seat. Still very little talking. Ms. G came to the door and called us back. My heart started beating so fast. We made that walk down the hallway and had to wait in an exam room for a few minutes...again mostly silence....while we waited for Jen (the ultrasound tech) to finish up with some other patients. Apparently she had wanted to do my ultrasound herself...makes sense since she was so involved in our whole IVF process.

Finally it was time....my stomach was in knots. Jen totally noticed and asked where the normally bubbly me was. Ummm...hello...totally freaked out here! I tried to lighten up a bit and smiled and laughed. And then it was time...Jen wasted no time...she immediately saw a baby with a heartbeat and she let us know. I burst into tears. And they did not stop the whole time that I laid on that table. BJ stared in awe and had a huge smile on his face. I should also tell you that both Ms. G and Nurse D came into the room to watch the ultrasound. I swear they had tears too! So Jen took some measurements and printed out some pictures for us and it was done. She gave me a huge hug and told me that I could come back as often as I needed until I graduate to the OB.

We came out of the room and Dr. P was there. I gave him a high-five...yes I high-fived my RE for getting me pregnant! He said that I was definitely proof that it only takes one embryo to get pregnant. So very true! He asked how long I wanted to stay with them...to which I hesitated...and he quickly added "until 36 weeks?" I said sure! Of course he was joking but I will continue to see him until 12 weeks then I will switch to hospital here on base. I think I am going to give them a call next week to make my appointment since they tend to be busy.

It is so hard to believe that we are actually going to be parents! Awesome!

So... A Change In Plans

We were supposed to have our ultrasound tomorrow (the 26th) but Dr. P is going to be out of the office at the ASRM conference in Denver. So we had to reschedule to Friday....which then was possibly interferring with BJ's eye surgery. Ugh! Why can't life be simple??? Things have worked out in the end and BJ will not have any appointments on Friday and will still be on sick leave following his surgery, so he can go with me. Yay!

So far I have been feeling okay. No really morning sickness yet...although I have had some nausea. My boobs are killing me. Don't look at them, don't touch them even a little (this includes accidental brushing up against them!), don't think about them. Ouch! The only other thing is that my clothes are already starting to get tight. I am definitely not ready to buy maternity clothes yet so I have resorted to rubberbands and belly bands. I do not have a baby bump...I have baby bloat. :/

Some random observations so far....
~decaf coffee is not as good as regular....and it does taste different
~it is possible to drink 8 - 8 oz glasses of water in one day
~having conversations with your drunk friends is hysterical!
~I have never wanted a turkey sandwich so badly

I am keeping myself grounded by reminding myself that each day that I wake up...I am pregnant. I am so thankful for every day that I am....I am not going to take this miracle for granted. It is hard not to worry that something will go wrong...that is totally normal after all we have been through to get pregnant...but we are staying positive. So we are keeping our fingers crossed until Friday and saying lots of prayers!

A Little Surprise Beta

So I called Nurse D yesterday and had jokingly asked her how many more betas could I have. She told me not to worry about that unless I had any cramping or bleeding (which I do not have!). A couple of hours later she called me back and said that Dr. P had approved for me to get a repeat beta for today. I totally did not expect that but I happily ran down to the lab this morning!

My beta today was 878. Holy shit! I am for sure pregnant! And because I can't just know that number and not do anything about it...I googled. The average for 19 days past retrieval is 607....if we followed my doubling from last week it should have been around 400. Umm...it looks a bit high. Of course this really does not mean a whole lot....there are women that have really high betas (like triple my first two) and only have 1 baby, and there are others that have lower than mine and are pregnant with more than one. It is all a guessing game until that first ultrasound....which is now scheduled for Oct 26....two incredibly long weeks!

Explanation Of POW/MIA Ceremony

So a couple people asked me what the POW/MIA ceremony symbols represent. I found this text of the reading that goes along with the ceremony. So for our ceremony...as each item was described the item was brought to the table...very touching. This ceremony is done at every formal military dinner. It is very moving and touching every single time. Please take a minute to read this and remember.

LET US REMEMBER THE MEN AND WOMEN PRISONERS OF WAR FROM ALL BRANCHES OF SERVICE THAT ARE TOO OFTEN FORGOTTEN. LET US REMEMBER THEM.

THE TABLE CLOTH IS WHITE, SYMBOLIZING THE PURITY OF THEIR INTENTIONS TO RESPOND TO THEIR COUNTRY'S CALL TO ARMS -- SO THAT THEIR CHILDREN COULD REMAIN FREE. REMEMBER.

THE LONE CANDLE SYMBOLIZES THE FRAILTY OF A PRISONER ALONE, TRYING TO STAND UP AGAINST HIS OPPRESSORS. REMEMBER.

THE BLACK RIBBON ON THE CANDLE REMINDS US OF THOSE WHO WILL NOT BE COMING HOME. REMEMBER

THE SINGLE ROSE REMINDS US OF THE LOVED ONES AND FAMILIES OF OUR COMRADES IN ARMS WHO KEEP THE FAITH AND AWAIT THEIR RETURN. REMEMBER

A SLICE OF LEMON IS ON THE BREAD PLATE TO REMIND US OF THEIR BITTER FATE -- IF WE DO NOT BRING THEM HOME. REMEMBER

THERE IS SALT ON THE PLATE, SYMBOLIC OF THE FAMILY'S TEARS AS THEY WAIT AND REMEMBER.

THE GLASSES ARE INVERTED. THEY CANNOT TOAST WITH US TONIGHT -- MAYBE TOMORROW, IF WE REMEMBER.

THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE RIBBON IS TIED TO THE FLOWER VASE BY A YELLOW RIBBON THAT WAS WORN BY THOUSANDS WHO AWAITED THEIR RETURN. REMEMBER

THE FADED PICTURE ON THE TABLE IS A REMINDER THAT THEY ARE MISSED VERY MUCH AND ARE REMEMBERED BY THEIR FAMILIES. REMEMBER.

AS WE LOOK UPON THIS EMPTY TABLE, DO NOT REMEMBER GHOSTS FROM THE PAST, REMEMBER OUR COMRADES.

REMEMBER THOSE WHOM WE DEPENDED ON IN BATTLE. THEY DEPEND ON US TO BRING THEM HOME.

REMEMBER OUR FRIENDS. THEY ARE THE ONES WE LOVE -- WHO LOVE LIFE AND FREEDOM AS WE DO.

THEY WILL REMEMBER WHAT WE DO. PLEASE HONOR AND REMEMBER THEM.

My Husband Got Some Bling

So our other big news of the week....BJ got his FMF (Fleet Marine Force) pin! He spent months studying, took an oral board exam, had to pass two physical fitness tests, and qualify on the pistol. It is a huge accomplishment and I am so incredibly proud of him. :) It was a surprise that he got pinned on Friday...he really had no idea. And what was even cooler....our FRO (Family Readiness Officer) called me on Thursday and told me ahead of time so that I could be there to pin it on him. I kept it a secret too...and he was completely shocked to see me there. It was an amazing moment for both of us. This was the first time that I got to pin something on him while in uniform....I did his Lieutenant bars at his commissioning but he was in civilian dress.

Most Navy officers don't earn this pin this quickly....and to top it off he started off behind because the classes started right before we got to Lejeune. He was allowed to jump right in and make up those classes. Yay!

So check out the bling.......

This is a picture from the Navy Birthday Ball last night. It was our first ball and it was so much fun. The POW/MIA table presentation was amazing...literally brought tears to my eyes. Could be the pregnancy hormones....lol! So here is a picture of the finished table. They carried in each individual piece...the table, the tablecloth, the rose, the plate, the glass, salt, the chair, the lemon, the candle, the napkin, the place setting. And with each piece they explained the significance of each. It was beautiful.


So this has been a huge week in our house...lots of smiles and happy tears. Finally!

Cautious Optimism

So after almost 3 years, 3 IVF's (or 2.2 since one did not make it to ER/ET) and so much heartbreak and tears.....we are pregnant!

I have been a bit under the radar for the past few days. Honestly we did not have much going on since my last post and then we got our BFP (big fat positive) and BJ and I had made the agreement to keep the news a bit hush hush until our second beta. So here is what has been going on for the last few days.....

To back up a bit, I have been POAS (peeing on a stick) since the day after my trigger. I will be honest...it was kind of fun to see those first few tests come up positive. :) The trigger was out of my system by Sunday. So I kept testing every day. Oh joys and addiction of POAS! On this past Wednesday morning, I tested again....at 9dp3dt and the morning of my first blood pregnancy test (beta)....and we saw a very, very faint second line. I was not really convinced that I was possibly pregnant. So off to the lab I went to get my blood drawn. We all know how much I love that!

I had a hair appointment...which I had made on purpose when BJ's eye surgery got canceled....I needed to keep myself distracted. So as I sat in the chair...with my head covered in tinfoil and my phone glued to my hand....the phone rang and it was Nurse D. She sounded excited. She asked if I had POAS yet...I told her every damn day! I told her that this mornings was a very faint line. She then said the words that I have been wanting to hear for 3 years....YOU'RE PREGNANT! My level (the amount of HCG hormone in my blood) was 35. The average for 9dp3dt is 25...so this was a good looking beta. I was crying, shaking and screaming for joy...the poor ladies in the salon did not know what to do with me. I called BJ right away and he reacted the same way. We are finally going to be parents!

Our plan for keeping it quiet somewhat derailed though....BJ told his staff (he was at the front desk and not in his office when he picked up the phone), so I called both our moms and let them know. Then I called my best friend...who I had also lied to about our test date (sorry Steph!)...and told her the big news. Well from there it spread a bit...but we wanted to still wait for a public announcement until after Friday's second beta. So I kept POAS Thursday and Friday. Here is a picture of our three sticks...you can see the line getting darker. By 11dp3dt there was no mistaking that the second was there....

Friday morning I had to get my blood drawn again. It was a bit of a rushed around thing...there is a whole other bit of excitement going on that I will post about tomorrow. (I know I am such a tease!) So as I was sitting in my spouse club board meeting I got the second call from Nurse D. My level needed to double to at least 70 or at least make a good rise....it was 83! We are definitely pregnant! Nurse D scheduled my first ultrasound for 7 weeks...right now we are about 4 weeks. I cannot wait to see this little one bouncing around in there. Oh and for good measure I POAS again today...this time a digital one. It makes my heart flutter to see this word....


Thank you all for all your kind words of support through all of this. We truly do appreciate the love, prayers and thoughts as we have taken this journey to get pregnant. Our little one still has many hurdles to cross over the next 9 months...so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.